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Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Convenient method of numbering a composer's works where a number follows the word 'opus'.For example - Opus 28 - No. 4.






2. The keyboard of a stringed instrument.






3. Music written to be sung or played in unison.






4. Slow and stately dance music written in triple time.






5. Curved line connecting notes to be sung or played as a phrase.






6. A dirge - hymn - or musical service for the repose of the dead.






7. The manner in which tones are produced with regard to pitch.






8. The frequency of a note determining how high or low it sounds.






9. A composition written for eight instruments.






10. Group of singers in a chorus.






11. The movement of chords in succession.






12. Often used in overtures - a composition that uses passages from other movements of the composition in its entirety.






13. A separate section of a larger composition.






14. A direction in sheet music indicating the tempo is to be very fast.






15. A 19th century square dance written for 4 couples.






16. A period in history during the 18th and early 19th centuries where the focus shifted from the neoclassical style to an emotional - expressive - and imaginative style.






17. To hold a tone or rest held beyond the written value at the discretion of the performer.






18. One of the two modes of the tonal system. Music written in major keys have a positive affirming character.






19. In sheet music - a symbol at the beginning of the staff defining the pitch of the notes found in that particular staff.






20. Harsh - discordant - and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.






21. A book of text containing the words of an opera.






22. The interval between two notes. Two whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.






23. To repeat a previous part of a composition generally after other music has been played.






24. The retuning of a stringed instrument in order to play notes below the ordinary range of the instrument or to produce an usual tone color.






25. An extended solo - often accompanying the vocal part of an aria.






26. Direction to performer to play a composition in a brisk - lively - and spirited manner.






27. A combination of two or more staves on which all the notes are vertically aligned and performed simultaneously in differing registers and instruments.






28. A line in a contrapuntal work performed by an individual voice or instrument.






29. The tonal characteristics determined by the relationship of the notes to the tone.






30. A short light musical drama.






31. An extended cantata on a sacred subject.






32. Refers to any great composer - conductor - or teacher of music.






33. One who directs a group of performers. The conductor indicates the tempo - phrasing - dynamics - and style by gestures and facial expressions.






34. A glissando or portamento. Also refers to the moving part of a trombone.






35. Either of the two octave arrangements in modern music. The modes are either major or minor.






36. The intonation - pitch - and modulation of a composition expressing the meaning - feeling - or attitude of the music.






37. A contrapuntal song written for at least three voices - usually without accompaniment.






38. A chord comprised of three whole tones resulting in an augmented fourth or diminished fifth.






39. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






40. The structure of a piece of music.






41. An important characteristic of the Romantic period. It is a style where the strict tempo is temporarily abandoned for a more emotional tone.






42. A group of 4 instruments - two violins - a viola - and cello.






43. One of the two modes of the tonal system. Music written in major keys have a positive affirming character.






44. System of notes or tones based on and named after the key note.






45. The range of an instrumental or a vocal part.






46. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played very slow and serious.






47. A solo concert with or without accompaniment.






48. To repeat a previous part of a composition generally after other music has been played.






49. The unit of musical rhythm.






50. Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played smoothly.